Monday, November 8, 2010

Hope everyone is having a lovely Monday!

The weather here where we live has been GORGEOUS and we've been practically living outside, having school outside and have definately gotten in some extra exercise. :) It's was a cold weekend (when I say cold, I mean weather in the 50s...sad, I know) and we were able to work on a little project (stay tuned for this one...it involves water, any guesses?) out in the backyard as well as spend some great time with the kiddos.

Let's see, what else have we been up to...

One of Lincoln's goldfish passed away. He conveniently brought it out to me in his hand (during his quiet time) to show it to me in hopes that he could get out of his quiet time. Nice try little man. :) The goldfish took a swim down the toilet to "meet Jesus". (insert mommy laughter here)

Norah learned how to say "baby". It comes out more like "bee-bee" and is oh, so cute.

We took a trip to the fair and the kids had their first turn on the ferris wheel. I however stayed well-planted on the safe ground and watched and prayed over them as they circled above me! :)

Riley chased down the mailman, again. I'm surprised they still service us.

Our younger hens started laying eggs...whoo-hoo! (We're getting over a dozen a day now.) This puts us up to 19 laying hens. Some of the other younger hens will start laying in the next week or so I imagine.

Looking forward to hanging out with some new friends at a farm one morning this week. Just letting the kids run, play with animals, learn, explore and be kids.

Made some awesome homemade beef and vegetable stew with homemade bisquits last night.

Had a terrible experience at Publix today. I don't always shop there (love our health food store, but can't afford to buy everything there), but I was in tears on the way home. Even my daughter picked up on how rude the CUSTOMER SERVICE assistant manager was. Yes, customer service! Won't shop there again. Ug.

Loved the daylight savings change this weekend, although our children were up at a perky 7:00 a.m. this morning which was NOT cool. We got a good jump on the morning though and got some extra schoolwork done though, so it panned out well.

Another friend has been emploring about homeschooling her boys and wants to come over and see what it's all about. She's got tons of questions (as everyone starting out does) and is concerned about the "social aspect" of it all. I have to laugh (respectfully) because that's what all parents are concerned about and until you've actually experienced home education, you truly don't understand that homeschooled children are VERY social. They are social with ALL ages of children and adults, not just third graders, or ninth graders. If you haven't already been blessed by Kris over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, you must visit today. She'll knock your socks off and I've been enjoying her blog now for a while and she never ceases to amaze me. :)

Let's see, let's see, anything else? Hmm.

I've been really sad about my garden this fall. Turns out the soil that we had delivered for our raised beds wasn't as "composted" as I'd like and after three chicken envasions and getting things replanted late, it's quite embarrassing. The corn, okra, lettuce and spinach are coming in okay, but everything else that requires better soil will have to wait until I dispurse my horse manure.

Oh yes, I was able to get to a stable and get some horse manure this past weekend. I live such a glorious life! I really do, in fact. Some may not view it as such, but I'm not much of a heels and Prada gal (did I spell Prada right?). I do love dressing up for my hubby on date nights though. My sister-in-law and I had this discussion over the summer. Accessorizing is such a fun thing to do, however, you have to know how to do it. I think I need lessons. Any takers? Huh? Huh? :)

Um....

Well, my children are chomping at the bit as their clocks have turned and they want to get up from "Quiet Time". Gotta finish up laundry, get dinner prepped and finish up an animal classification book Avonlea has been creating.

Oh, one more thing...there's two more days left to vote on the poll (it's on the left-hand side). Thanks to those who have voted thus far. Just trying to get a feel for what readers are interested in reading. So far, "homeschool curriculum and learning", "homeschool scheduling" as well as "scheduling throughout the day" are the top three. Get your votes in now! :)

.

Join us as our family is constantly being pruned by our Heavenly Father(John 15)to get rid of that which hinders us from growing closer to Him and replaces that pruning with spiritual fruit. We have six, amazing, little arrows, so far(Psalm 127:4)in which we were given "on loan" by God, privileged to raise, home educate(Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deut. 4:9-10)and make little disciples of (John 1; Mark 1, 3; John 15).We are a tight-knit family, passionate about adoption and foster care, and run a small, 5-acre farm in Florida called Vine Living Farm where we milk cows, raise chickens for meat and eggs as well as ducks, turkeys and rabbits, breed Bernese Mountain dog puppies, and grow fruit, herbs and veggies, stewarding God's creation for His glory(1 Corinthians 10:31). Join us on our adventure!

.

You Can Follow Me On Pinterest Here...

Why We Homeschool (click image)

Avonlea Charlotte - 11

Avy is our oldest. She has a compassionate heart, loves cooking, baking, sewing, riding horses, caring for her rabbits, learning just about anything new, lovin' on babies and little ones and wants to be a mother someday. She truly loves the Lord and is such a thoughful person, always putting others above herself. She's my right-hand-lady!

LINCOLN COLE - 9

"Linc" is our second born and our most social child. He can hold a conversation with anyone, any age. He loves math, science and enjoys helping Daddy with projects around the farm. He's our Muscle Man and enjoys assembling things. I love listening to this boy pray!

NORAH CLAIRE - 7

Norah is my little firecracker! God is going to do amazing things with her. She has the passion of her mama {grin}. She loves to draw and paint, looks up to her big sister, loves anything pink, but can hold her own with her brothers.

ISAAC CALE - 5

Isaac is our fourth child and he loves to climb trees, swing from vines, "hunt" for squirrels with big brother, bird watch and is "all boy". His name means "laughter" and he lives up to that name for sure. He is a big snuggler!

Titus "Ty" Calvin - 4

Titus likes to keep our lives interesting! He loves bugs, reptiles and any animal, really. Our only blond child, he loves to dance and learn alongside his big brothers and sisters.

Our Homeschool "Style"

I would describe our homeschool style as "life learners", although some would label it "unschooling". We are constantly learning with each day and situations God gives us and when we are doing more formal learning, we are notebooking or following a natural approach of learning through Charlotte Mason methods. Our largest emphasis is on teaching from the Bible, training our children to love Jesus, modeling how to ABIDE in Him and become His disciples. The best part is that I get to learn alongside my children! I wouldn't trade it for the world, yes, even on the harder days.